Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Fallout from the Spill

Our new Louisiana poll has a lot of data points to show how unhappy voters in the state are with Barack Obama's handling of the oil spill but one perhaps sums it up better than anything else- a majority of voters there think George W. Bush did a better job with Katrina than Obama's done dealing with the spill.

50% of voters in the state, even including 31% of Democrats, give Bush higher marks on that question compared to 35% who pick Obama.

Overall only 32% of Louisianans approve of how Obama has handled the spill to 62% who disapprove. 34% of those polled say they approved of how Bush dealt with Katrina to 58% who disapproved.

While the poll results indicate a lot of unhappiness with the President, ultimately BP is getting the largest amount of blame from voters in the state. 53% of voters say they're angriest at the oil company to 29% who say their greatest unhappiness is with the federal government. And 78% say BP has the greatest responsibility for cleaning up the spill to only 11% who say that onus lays with the federal government. 44% think BP CEO Tony Hayward should be fired to 29% who think he should not and 26% who are not sure.

One thing the oil spill has not done is created a spike of opposition to offshore drilling in Louisiana. 77% of voters still support it with only 12% against. Only 31% say the spill has made them less inclined to be in favor of drilling while 42% say it hasn't made a difference to them and 28% say they're now stronger in their support.

If there's any 'winner' in this unfortunate event it's Governor Bobby Jindal. 63% of voters approve of the job he's doing, the best PPP has found for any Senator or Governor so far in 2010. There's an even higher level of support, at 65%, for how he's handled the aftermath of the spill.

Don't you notice anything else about the cross tabs in this poll? As is often the case with the deep south on just about anything involving the federal government and, more importantly, which party controls it, there is a glaring racial divide. Louisiana, Alabama and Mississipi are completely irrelevant to Obama's 2012 political calculus in part because, the majority of their voters would'nt give him a chance no matter how he tried. Nobody has yet died from this, unlike Katrina, but of course, these guys loved Bush, no matter how much of a simpleton he was at anything. Such is the life of America's cultural laggard also known as the South.

Are there crosstabs on this one? There's two in particular that would be interesting to see - New Orleans residents, and the racial components. Like much of the Deep South, Louisiana has a history of racially polarized politics. It in particular seems like it would be a sad but plausible outcome for Katrina and the BP Oil Spill to become competing racial myths - "Bush didn't care about black people" versus "Obama didn't care about the white people." I would hope it wouldn't come to anything like that, but in a region hit in recent years by multiple different catastrophes on top of an already-depressed economy, now facing the possibility of a major environmental and economic shift over a span of years or decades, tensions could lead to any number of negative social outcomes.

The reason the people of LA think W did a better job on Katrina than Obama is doing on the oil disaster is simple..... They're stupid! They're all rednecks and they don't see anything wrong with raping the earth.....as long as they get to have their gumbo, they're happy!

Obama will get things straightened out, maybe between the eleventh and twelfth holes. All we get from Obama is a lot of lip service ( while viewing the teleprompter). At least Bush was able to talk without having to be shown every word as he spoke. Bush was Bush, but that was still 10 times the MAN Obama is. He can not make a decision in an emergency, and tries to avoid any attempt to get him to.

Not sure what is worse indecisiveness or incompetence. This President clearly has not learned anything from the financial melt down. Cause and effect is a very real reality in this day and age. This is a global economy.

Remember too big to fail?

This is epic in terms of the disaster but there are people/jobs associated with this catastrophe. Let us not forget that.

Izanagi, you're post shows just how stupid you are and how uninformed fools come up with moronic assumptions. "Nobody has died from this" Not only did 11 men die on the oil rig, countless animals are dying every day and the brown pelican's existence is at stake. Also, I had family and friends that died in Katrina. Here's a shocker, they were white. Many white people lost their homes and businesses in Katrina as well. Posts like yours are what encourage racism. This oil spill has nothing to do with race, and gosh darnet us southerners all passed the 5th grade eventually.

that is so unfair to blast Obama for what he has done, it is just wrong. He has not done a single thing, so why be upset with him. Heck whenever he does something he makes it worse, ie, the unemployment he promised to stay below 8%, health insurance bill with no restriction on current rates, cash for clunkers, quadrupling the national debt, taking over student loans and making it almost impossible to get one, so please, keep him away from the gulf, it is in our best interest.

Just read through the crosstabs, and there it is. Overwhelming support among black Louisianans, overwhelming disapproval among white Louisianans. Nothing here but a hardening of racial lines. This might nudge some of the lingering Dixiecrats to finally switch to their real political home and make party membership line up with actual ideological preferences, but that's about it.

"The reason the people of LA think W did a better job on Katrina than Obama is doing on the oil disaster is simple..... They're stupid! They're all rednecks and they don't see anything wrong with raping the earth.....as long as they get to have their gumbo, they're happy!"

What gutless, broadbrushing no-name wrote bigoted, intolerant stuff like this? Hint: it wasn't a conservative. I thought stereotyping entire peoples was not to be done, anymore (that is, if you believe the left wing). Apparently, it is not okay to do so with ethnic minorities, but it IS okay to do so with whites -- particularly SOUTHERN whites (and Jews too, of course...who the left increasingly loathes, openly. Their mask's off, on that one). Still, it's very, very telling -- such uneducated cheap shots like the one, above. Its writer doesn't seem to realize that it is PRECISELY that kind of arrogant condescention that has made the left wing so universally anathema across the country...not just in any one state (liberals are only 21% of the populace, according to Gallup). Maybe, sir or madam, the folks down in Louisiana are right, and YOU'RE the stupid one (seeing as they are actually THERE and have to live with everything Obama is doing nothing about -- unlike yourself). Has that thought ever crossed the portals of your mind?

"Anonymous said...The reason the people of LA think W did a better job on Katrina than Obama is doing on the oil disaster is simple..... They're stupid! They're all rednecks and they don't see anything wrong with raping the earth.....as long as they get to have their gumbo, they're happy!

June 15, 2010 6:19 PM"

That is about the stupidest thing I've ever seen written. Have you even been here, ever? I know we here are quite happy and gee, we actually like other people. Would hate to be from whereever it is YOU're from, where people must hate everybody else.

Despite the attacks on Bush by African American leaders like Louis Farrahkan who claimed Bush bombed the levees in order to accomplish genocide against blacks the actual facts show he did a good job. Its all how media and Bush haters framed it. Lets examine what was done.180,000 people were rescued,given food and medical attention and moved to safety within 5 days. In fact 100,000 were moved to Houston. Perhaps the greatest relief effort since the evacuation of Dunkirk. Just the facts. Leave your ignorant Bush hate at the door.

Face it, Obama should be kicking himself in the *ss. He should have been an executive and right away gottent the American people together to save the wildlife, fawna and flaura of the area. Instead he played golf and partied; he should have called on all nations to help in the aftermath in the clean up and suspended the Union laws to allow this he defended Unions and ignored help by countries who had REAL experience in this kind of clean up and he played golf and partied; he could have agreed with the local officials of Louisiana, Arkansans etc. and build burnes and used booms to keep the oil off the beaches and he didn't he played golf and partied. Why does Obama need so much golf and so much party on the American tax payers dime?

Didn't take long to find the "southern people are stupid" comments.Try this, assuming all blacks will vote the way they are told ,and will blindly approve of a "black" president is far more racist than the imaginary rednecks that live in your head.

People have died from this, but that was just a group of mostly dumb white rednecks getting the petro out of the ground for your laptop case, cell phone etc. etc. We ignorant southerners can tell the difference between the oil companies irresponsibility and the subsequent lack of leadership and general indecision by this administration.

If the President tries to use this for new "green" taxes that will not cut emissions or truly implement reasonable policies and tech. that actually exists, his numbers will fall farther.

Someone said no one died in this...Really how about the 11 roughnecks who died? They dont count? Let me guess because they were white.Yet if they were black Obama would be up in arms.Typical leftist crap from you ignorant fools.

Before Katrina hit, they knew it was coming and did not prepare a proper response, instead they did not take not one ioda of the responsibility. This was the responsibility of the Mayor and the Govenor (which they were in conflict)of Louisana then the Federal Government. If you noticed Mississippi was hit by the same storm but there response was different they handled it much better than Louisana.

The oil spill is BP's fault, but the President did not take the leadership in this matter. When he did respond, it was punitive. This was not the time to talk about whose butt to kick, it was time to work together to come up with a solution to stop and clean up the spill.

Of course, this poll just furthers the common knowledge of how ignorant people from Louisiana are. bush and dick allowed terrorists to attack America, and then lied us into an expensive, un-necessary war, while ruining the economy. No, Americans do NOT miss bush and dick.

This feckless administration allowed this drilling to take place without sufficient oversight.

The head of MMS was fired and Obama knew nothing about it. When you are a leader, you need to delegate, but follow up with your people. MMS provided no oversight and waived some requirements.

Obama played golf instead of going to the memorial service for the eleven who died on the rig. He hosted Sir Paul and parties hardy.

He could have dispatched a cadre of folks, waived the Jones act to allow for help. Should have checked with those who handled Exxon Valez and this is worse.Should not have listened to the Environmentalists who forced offshore deepwater drilling.

BP is a major player in the Cap and Trade legislation.

The bureaucrats could not agree on how to handle this.

Besides, remember Obama's ethereal speeches. He is the ONE we have been waiting for. Upon his election the world would heal and the oceans recede. HIS WORDS NO MINE. So, naturally no one thought that he could not lead.

He is the ONE. But, me thinks that his halo has slipped to his ankles.

Did you ever stop and think, who is the governor of Louisiana? They elected Bobby Jindal. For me, he does not look like white. Also, what is happening in South Carolina? Niki Haley is not a white and she is doing well. Deep South might not be important for Obama but, he is loosing virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, Ohio and florida

Jason van Steenwyk is a Florida Army National Guardsman who has been mobilized six times for hurricane relief. He notes that:

"The federal government pretty much met its standard time lines, but the volume of support provided during the 72-96 hour was unprecedented. The federal response here was faster than Hugo, faster than Andrew, faster than Iniki, faster than Francine and Jeanne."

For instance, it took five days for National Guard troops to arrive in strength on the scene in Homestead, Fla. after Hurricane Andrew hit in 1992. But after Katrina, there was a significant National Guard presence in the afflicted region in three.

As long as those "states" against drilling agree to pay $2 more a gallon I have no problem. The Calif kooks live in OzLand or EliteLand...like the eastern libs (secular socialists) never want the eco-kookism applied to their 3 houses/7 cars/flying private jets life.There is no "Green Job" economy....there is no oil substitute, there are many more land places to drill and other countries are drilling the Gulf NOW...you like importing from Cult of Allah countries?Obama is clueness...worst president ever...J. Carter Obama rules....suckas.

Tom, seemed like it was smart of you to put this up for a vote, winning and being polled, got you lots of publicity, particularly in the rightist media and particularly on the "Obama rated worse than Bush on Katrina". Drudge linked to The Hill article. In this environment where many leftists detest you already for "in your face" poll results, maybe you can become a pollster for Republicans.... [Satire]

Someone wanted to make rude comments about the South...if you don't like the South, stay away...and YOU give up YOUR car, YOUR big house, YOUR modern lifestyle and YOUR private jet travel for cultural excursions...so, just leave us alone. Folks in the South (and indeed in much of "flyover country" are sick and tired of folks (like Obama and Al Gore) who want US to give up everything so THEY and their elitist pals can have it good...nothing but hypocrites. We'll REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER.

I am originally from New Orleans and I just wanted to say that the poll seems accurate to me based on the way I know my people. BP is clearly the primary in terms of blame. Where we have problem with the government (fed) is their failure to defend the coast, and then throwing potentially hundreds of thousands of our people out of work via the moratorium and then re-permitting requirement for new shallow-water rigs, which effectively acts as it's own moratorium. I was angry at Bush during Katrina, but he didn't intentionally throw hundreds of thousands of people out of work. The oil will be harder to deal with long-term than the rebuilding of New Orleans. I realize the scale is not the same, but the impact will be as bad if not worse nonetheless, at least in the long term. Obama has done much worse here than Bush did 5 years ago during Katrina. We are p*ssed. Please excuse mon francais. Obama is a couillon. Thanks.

I am from Louisiana. I am proud to say that I am. I live in Lafayette which is about 35 miles north of the gulf and about 120 miles to the west of New Orleans. It is horrible here. Not only are fishermen and people out on the rigs losing their jobs, but people who supply to these companies as well. This is causing many people to stop spending because the oil field is how most make a living. They stop spending and we stop giving out taxes to the local and state governments. It is a growing rapid of hurt down here. I am not blaming anyone. We just want help! We are upset because there is no help. I do have to admit though, that our governor has been wonderful. Much better than than the governor who was in office during Katrina.And to everyone saying that people in Louisiana are racist...do some research by coming down here and spending your tourist dollars in our cities. You will find we are very welcoming and polite to everyone. And the comments about us being stupid and rednecks, once again...do some research, we preferred to be called cajuns. And kiss my a**, I have two phd's and am only 30.

My heart goes out to all of the Gulf Coast folks affected by this spill.

I hope you can ignore the ignorant comments about your culture; I will be thrilled to visit all the way from Canada some day, when finances permit, and support your tourism industry. I will encourage others to do so as well.

Hurricane Katrine affected the coast for more than 50 days and the Federal troops were in place for 50. The alleged "delay" in Federal aide was more on GOv Blanco's failure to have a plan than the govt. to respond, and yes I saw it first hand, for all you who think you know. Disasters SUCK and people suffer. Based on Pres. O's performance, I am glad this isn't a real disaster with lives at stake. And blaming off shore oil and the companies that employ Americans is not a response.

Hurricane Katrine affected the coast for more than 50 days and the Federal troops were in place for 50. The alleged "delay" in Federal aide was more on GOv Blanco's failure to have a plan than the govt. to respond, and yes I saw it first hand, for all you who think you know. Especially those who ignore facts when they don't meet their own political or personal philosophy. Disasters SUCK and people suffer or it wouldn't be a disaster. Based on Pres. O's performance, I am glad this isn't a real disaster with lives at stake. Blaming off shore oil and the companies that employ Americans is not a response.

Whoever doesn't like this poll should be thankful it was conducted here in June and not 3 months from now when the entire gulf looks like a giant septic tank of stinking hydrocarbon. At the rate things are hitting the fan and where things appear to be headed, this disaster appears to be in its infancy. I'm glad to see that at least the states are taking things into their own hands.

Is there anyone who would like to correct Jimmy on the definitions of 'debt' and 'deficit?' Anyone? Hint: Debt is the sum of all annual deficits, currently standing at 11 trillion dollars or so as of the third quarter of 2009 (the last year the government operated under Bush's last budget). The national debt has not suddenly hit anything close to 44 trillion dollars. Not like when, say, Reagan tripled the national debt in the 1980's (about 1 trillion when he came in, 3 trillion when he left).

If JimT meant 'deficit' then under a particularly cherry-picked definition he might be on ground slightly closer to reality. If you take the straight-up numbers from Bush's last budget and compare them to the numbers Obama submitted, then Obama's deficit is indeed twice, not four times, as large as Bush's. However, this is a patently disingenuous move as Bush specifically kept war spending out of his budget and did not include the TARP program, the inclusion of which would have raised his actual annual deficit figures to a much nearer level as Obama.

In short, shifting to a more honest and transparent accounting model made the numbers look worse than when the numbers were obscured by putting war funding into supplemental requests instead of budgeting for it rationally or including major ticket items after the budget was submitted.

Obuma response (or lack of) is all to push his progressive socialist ideology. He does not care if people or animals die. The worse it gets the easier it is for him to bash capitalism and push cap&trade.

I'm guessing the 1,836 dead Katrina victims might disagree. Funny how Louisiana's governor went from ranting about accepting Federal Aid to now complaining they weren't getting enough. Nothing like a disaster to make the "Federal Government is Evil" morons turn around and beg for a handout.

None of this will stop till we all get behind the tea party. Get back to our founding father principles of freedom and liberty. Allow slavery in certain states so we can cut back on the minorities causing too much trouble. And keep the government off my guns and out of my life.

I lived in La. in the 60's I was labeled a Yankee until I pointed out my ancestor in MO., fought for the South!This is a complex problem with no simple, single solution.What do Y'all want Obama to do, put on his Superman cape and dive 5000 feet down in the Gulf and fix this problem? By the way, I read that in the 1927 Hurricane in New Orleans, The Steamboat pulled away from the dock playing,"Bye Bye Blackbird".

For all you smart #$$es on here, yes there were deaths from Katrina. However, Bush didn't kill anyone, it was a natural disaster. Its funny as hell when stupid takes on an indignant, self righteous, arrogant tone.

Lot's of ignorant comments about the South on here but that does not surprise me from the "Progressive/Liberal Elite's." I also happen to be from The NorthEast, so I will apologize to my fellow Americans in the South for such comments. We are hypocrites up here.

I do find it funny how Pres. Obama is getting plenty of passes on this disaster. The waters are under control of the Federal Government. Unlike N.O. and the state of LA, in which cases both the local and state officials FAILED to follow their own Emergency Management plans. Yet somehow it was the Feds fault. BTW, if this is how the Feds are handling this incident, I can't wait to see how they are going to manage Gov. run Health Care!

Party, travel to make speech about health care, golf, make speech about oil spill all about his cap-and-trade agenda. Golf, take a vacation and party some more. Yeah, that's why he's going such a bang-up job on getting the oil gush under control. Vote the dems out of office this year REMEMBER NOVEMBER!

I am amazed at the Obama coolaid drinker who said that nobody has died from the Gulf oil disaster yet. I'm sure the families of the 11 men who died aboard the rig as a result of the explosion will be comforted to hear that.

I'm confident that he or she thinks the 11 who died are the responsibility of George Bush and the ones who were not killed lived because BHO is now president. Please!

Katrina was the fault of the Gov and the Mayor. The first response is crucial. They blew it.They were supposed to evacuate the people. They did not. Jindal did it a year and a half ago. Everyone was evacuated. Blanco and Nagan were to blame.

I reject anon's desire to use body counts to determine whether Bush or Obama did a better job. In Katrina, the Gov of LA would not allow FEMA to come in. The only way Bush could have come in earlier than he did would be to declare LA "in rebellion". I have always thought that the Bush credo of don't take credit, work quietly with difficult political opponents is wrong. He should have announcer LOUDLY on TV over and over that the feds and aid were being kept out. At any rate the two situations don't comparen well

"What do Y'all want Obama to do, put on his Superman cape and dive 5000 feet down in the Gulf and fix this problem?"

What I want Obama and his cronies to do is SOMETHING. Why did they turn down the Dutch, the Brits and The Kuwatis when those nations offered oil skimming ships? Why did they sit on their thumbs when Jindal asked for permission to build the sand berms? (That's unconsitutional in the first place - a State Governor having to ask Federal permission to protect the assest of his state.)Why didn't Obama get off his a$$, instead of threatening to kick someone else's, and order the burn booms put into place? Why are those same booms sitting idle in a warehouse in Maine?

I want him to stop confsing "Gulf" with "golf", and do bloody Something, besides talk, and threaten, and use a disaster to advance his political agenda.

Number 1 ignorant people. Katrina was a wind storm that blew some sticks around and added more water to an area that would eventually disband.... This oil spill should not be compared to wind and water due to this is a hole in the earth... The earth is currently bleeding... This is a first for human experience (oil gushing from the depths of the ocean, not sand nor dirt)... Ignorant people wake up... Katrina was a land based event that hands and minds could handle. This oil spill is challenging the minds in order to lead the hands... This is no easy task as Katrina was in comparison...

I'm from LA and it really hurts to see people call my home such horrible things.

Bobby Jindal and local leaders are doing a great job. LA really wants a leader. We don't care about comparisons, political parties.We just need someone to help us before everything is suffocated in oil.

I would have to agree. The response to the oil spill has been unacceptable. Obama will not get re-elected in 2012. http://www.theobamacountdown.com The dem's must be dreading the fall election because they know they will not get re-elected

Its interesting too because Obama has some of these blame/disapproval deflected on to BP, but with Bush there was no one else to blame (can you actually blame the weather), so he got stuck with all of the blame (and some rightly so).

This complaining about Obama - what do you really think he can or could have done? Claims like by Palin he rejected help from other nations are false. The issue is, there really isn't a simple easy way to stop the leak or stop it from fouling shorelines, and no one knows exactly what to do.

If we'd had better regulation in the past from MMS etc. like inspections BP may have been warded away from letting it happen. They cut corners to save money and the lax-regulation crowd (mostly Republicans) looked the other way. The bear the brunt of the blame.

In Katrina, you had incompetents in New Orleans Mayor and Louisana Governor, (both DEMOCRATS). Next door, Haley Barbor (GOP) rolled up his pants and went to work. BOTH states got hit, but one was led by INCOMPETENT DEMOCRATS.

Now in the oil spill, you have governors, (GOP) asking to be able to get permission to do things. If the governor of Louisana was still a Democrat, they would be sitting on their arses...

The Katrina comparisons really need to STOP. This poll is ridiculous. I live in New Orleans. I survived Katrina. And the comparisons piss me off to no end.

We evacuated for Katrina. The Gov & Mayor called for a mandatory evacuation. They did not keep the FEDS out. It was a declared "disaster" the FEDS could have come in on day ONE! The proper order of blame is (FEDS) FEMA first, then BLANCO (Gov) then NAGIN (Mayor). The buck stopped with BUSH and the FEDS PERIOD. The FEDS built the levees that FAILED.PERIOD.

You do not have 100,000+ HUMANS sitting in the sweltering heat for 5 days starving, dying being raped and murdered. FOR 5 DAYS! Yes 11 men died with the oil spill. Thousands of animals are dying. But the HUMAN suffering that BUSH, BLANCO & NAGIN allowed is not even comparable to the current situation.

Why aren't we allowing foreign ship to come in? Because there is a maritime LAW that prevents non-US ships to transport US goods. Because it is US oil only US ships can transport it. I guess the suckers from the Netherlands and elsewhere would be "carrying" US goods if they sucked up the oil. THIS IS A LAW that someone made up 100 years ago in the 1920's. Jones Maritime Act.

Why aren't we stepping in declaring disaster and taking over? Because of yet another STUPID LAW that would make the US financially liable if they did so. Stafford Disaster Act.

These two laws are what is keeping Obama from doing what the people want him to do. But instead of being responsible and telling us these things Media & Talking Heads sensationalize it all and make it much much worse. They leave it up to the smart people like me to find out the TRUTH.

Polls like this just perpetuate the problem. No wonder people in other countries laugh at us. Our media is just as bad as our government.

One thing the rest of the nation didn't get from the national media about Katrina -- we in Louisiana know the incompetence shown by then-Governor Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagan. Blanco and Nagan told President Bush there were only about 25,000 people still in New Orleans -- nearly 300,000 were evacuated post-Katrina. President Bush wanted to Federalize the New Orleans rescue and Blanco needed 24 hours to think about it... We know the Feds were slow with Katrina, we also know they can only act when requested by the state -- with the oil spill the state (Gov Jindal asked) and the feds needed 4+weeks to evaluated the request.

As a Canadian looking in from here , I find it totally nauseating that the Republicans and the Democrats are trying to put each other down. You have an ongoing bloody catastrophy on your hands and you cannot work with one another to get it resolved. Instead you are looking to put blame on each other. Where are you geniuses ? Why are you leaving it up to BP ? They are in a quagmire. Take care of it yourselves and charge BP back.

for the first 28 days of the oil spill, president obama, rahm and holder were out in the backyard of the whitehouse shooting baskets. obama's title shoudl be changed from "commander in chief" to "idiot in chief" for the lack of leadership he has shown in this matter.

Obama is the weakest president since Carter. His weakness will invite some of the most horrific deeds against the US imaginable.HOPE and CHANGE is all we'll have left. and to you teet sucking fools who live on hand outs....GET a JOB. You're liberal friends have stolen your souls. Bring on November!!!

Ridiculous. There is no comparison between the handling of a natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina and a massive man-made oil spill due to severe gross negligence.

There are limited options for dealing with the spill and the President can only do so much.

This "poll" isn't based upon intelligent consideration but rather highly partisan politics. If you rated Obama's selection in pies you could have gotten the same result. Partisanship has now become more important than the nation and we are in trouble.

Bush's government waited 5 days to help.Obama's waited almost 2MONTHS.Obama refused help 3 days after the spill.The spill could have been stopped from getting to the beaches, but Obama had his AGENDA to think about.

Obama was too busy Golfing to survey the damage done to Nashville in a horrible flood that took 28 lives in the region the storm hit.

It took him 50 days to say much more than "I can't go out there and sip it up with a straw."

Katrina, was a very serious event but it also left a trail of damage from Mobile to Texas. HAd people left New Orleans like they were told, the death toll would have been far smaller. It is hard to plan for an event of that scale before it happened and there was miles of people that needed help before the trucks could even get to New ORleans.

Folks, the Democrats elected the worst President in US history last election. Poor leader, arrogant, and frankily less then caring for those effected. To use the oil spill as a campaign speach, is a new low.

Is LA a blue state or a red state? Has it ever been blue? Your family can walk all over you, rob you, beat you, but in the end you still stick up for them. The difference between Katrina and the Gulf of Oil is that one is natural and the other is man-made. There are for-profit companies responsible for this problem and the only thing Obama needs to do is to make sure they fix this environmental disaster, and that there are tighter safety controls on off-shore drilling. The only fault of Obama is trusting BP too much. It seems LA wants to reap the benefits of off-shore drilling and have government bailouts when things go wrong. Drill baby drill, but blame the government for the spill.

SINCE THE BP OIL SPILL, JOHN M. KOCOL IS THE FIRST PERSON IN THE WORLD CALLING FOR REPLACING PETROLEUM WITH METHANOL

Now is the time for President Obama and his BP oil spill commission: Frances G. Beinecke, Donald Boesch, Terry D. Garcia, Cherry A. Murray and Frances Ulmer to begin the process of replacing our petroleum based economy with a methanol based economy.

John M. Kocol is Founder & CEO of USMEXenergy.com (coal2oil.com, CO2toMethanol.com are USMEXenergy.com companies) which is a veteran owned Federal Government energy contracting firm based in Washington, DC. John M. Kocol's Harvard Master's Thesis: "Federal Reserve Expansion in Mexico," with Dr. John Womack Jr. as Thesis Director, resulted in the founding of USMEXenergy.com. Since the BP oil spill, John M. Kocol is the first person in the world calling for replacing our petroleum based economy with a methanol based economy; he can be reached at kocol@post.harvard.edu.

"AG said...I have to wonder how much the African-American disaspora from Katrina has affected those numbers."

Louisiana is approx. 33% African American, so that could possibly give a reason for the numbers. Thats not to say that all blacks like Obama and all whites don't like him, but it could be a starting point.

On a related side note, Louisiana has the second highest African American population in the country (Miss. is #1).